Resource information
Poor governance is a major impediment to
achieving development outcomes of the forest sector. It
results in losses of income, employment, government
revenues, and local and global environmental services.
However, at present, no comprehensive guide to reforming
forest governance has been developed. Although usually it is
relatively easy to recognize that the forest sector in a
country is failing to deliver all its potential benefits,
the lack of an appropriate analytical framework makes it
much harder to identify the major shortcomings and to
propose a fitting response. This economic and sector work
(ESW) is the first step in creating a reformer's tool
to diagnose forest governance weaknesses and pinpoint
appropriate reforms. Section one of these studies explores
the consequences of poor governance and the need for and the
track record of forest governance reforms. It highlights
some key gaps in our understanding of the governance
challenge that provide the rationale for this report.
Section two reviews the available literature and extant
initiatives on describing and measuring governance. It looks
at existing general indicators of governance and an
indicator aim specifically at the forest sector and
highlights the main lessons learned. Section three presents
a comprehensive conceptual framework with which forest
governance diagnostics can be undertaken in a country.
Finally, section four summarizes the material and offers conclusions.
